Raymond, upon seeing his Special Air Police chief about to shoot one of his subordinates in the backside, sent the lot of them on a gun safety course. And while he was at it, an aircraft safety course as well.

It was coming...They were ready,And the atmosphere grew tense.They had followed Biggles' orders;Though they hadn't made much sense.They had met at Morven aerodromeHad lunch,Then lunched again;And now waited for the showdownBy their little (Auster?) plane.Biggles wore his tank top,And young Ginger wore one too.He had picked his clothing outWhilst thinking "What would Biggles do?"His patterned, bright red knitwearCut the risk of getting lost;A fair isle distress beaconWas quite clearly worth the cost.Bertie, crouched beside them,Knew precisely what to wear;A tourist with a monocle,Black clothes and oiled, dyed hair.~0~It was coming...They were readyFor the story's final scene.They'd been doped and bombed and threatenedAnd survived their foe's cuisine.Biggles posed expectantly, knee bent,And hand on prop;Prepared to do his duty As an airborne, flying cop.Ginger, rather carelessly, producedHis loaded gun;The slightest nudge of trigger mightReduce the team by one;And Bertie, quite oblivious to dangerOverhead,Now aimed his weapon vaguelyAt his boss's knee instead.Biggles and young Ginger stared intently,Straight and true,Whilst Bertie turned his gazeTo get a better left hand view.~0~It was coming...They were readyFor the action to beginBut all they saw was Algy,Hands in pockets, rueful grin."I'm sorry, chaps, to tell you,All this effort is in vain.There's no earthly point in waiting hereBeneath our lovely planeWhile relaxing in the office,I've had time to take a look.This exciting confrontation?Well...it isn't in the book.The criminals are washed upOn a Channel Island shoreThe whole campaign has fizzled out;No shoot out, any more."The trio sighed, stretched stiffened limbs,A disappointed bunch.But cheered up when their friend proposedA third extended lunch.~0~

"If you're going to leave the beaten track the first thing is to make sure you've got your sense of humour with you." --Biggles on Mystery Island.

Thank you so much...I read the book through twice before realising the depicted scene wasn't in it at all:-p

kylie_koyote wrote:New day, new photo

"Let me know if you spot those crazy ladies from the Forum, Ginger! I'll have to find some more modest attire before they find me, or they're likely to make all kinds of rude remarks about the shortness of my shorts."

With gritted teeth and muscles clenched and unsuspendered socks,Two heroes plunged relentlessly through densely wooded thicket;A practice run, to test their gear; machete, shirts and shorts."This copse quite near the aerodrome", they mused, "is just the ticket!"~0~Young Ginger listened carefully to orders from his boss;He mustn't wander off, or leave the trail, or get distracted.Determined to behave, he stuck to Biggles, like strong glue;Mere inches stretched between them as the scene was thus enacted.~0~Alas, old Mrs Symes had sadly starched and shrunk their shorts;So, progress through the "jungle" was, by chafing cloth, impeded;And Biggles got confused between his left hand and his right,And warnings not to shoot at local birdlife went unheeded.~0~A swift intense discussion and debriefing followed on;New kit required before they undertook their island mission;And Bertie spoke to Algy, out of earshot of their friends;They’d volunteer to mind the plane…it seemed the best decision.~0~

"If you're going to leave the beaten track the first thing is to make sure you've got your sense of humour with you." --Biggles on Mystery Island.

elderlyfemalerelativ wrote:"Biggles, don't look now, but Prince Harry has just got out of our tent"

Meghan still there...?

Fred

If she's any sense, she'll stay in the tent. Every time I look at this image I get more confused as to what they are actually doing. My best guess is a portable barbeque, but why Biggles is holding his hands hands closely to it whilst regarding Bertie so fixedly is a mystery.

'Major Bigglesworth' said Von Stalhein coldly, 'there are times when I seriously wonder if you were created by the devil just to annoy me.'

Kismet wrote:..... but why Biggles is holding his hands hands closely to it whilst regarding Bertie so fixedly is a mystery.

Oh, that's easy.

'Look, Bertie, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times, the fire doesn't need to be this big because if we assume that this area is x and the length of the fish is y then the square root of the sum x minus y is the area which is extraneous to the cooking process, so we can make the fire smaller and save on fuel.'

The Decision to Survive - A good pilot is both born and made. The best would look upon his work as a combination of adventure and a serious mission. – Major General Sir Frederick Sykes

Actually, now I've unfocused my eyes and squinted a bit, I think that Biggles is holding a lid in his left hand. This is puzzling as a lid seems to be beside Bertie, too. Maybe they are discussing whose lid will be used. First to blink loses.Or maybe Biggles is holding an oil can, which is rather more disturbing as they are presumably by a fire.

'Major Bigglesworth' said Von Stalhein coldly, 'there are times when I seriously wonder if you were created by the devil just to annoy me.'

Kismet wrote:Actually, now I've unfocused my eyes and squinted a bit, I think that Biggles is holding a lid in his left hand. This is puzzling as a lid seems to be beside Bertie, too. Maybe they are discussing whose lid will be used. First to blink loses.Or maybe Biggles is holding an oil can, which is rather more disturbing as they are presumably by a fire.

I’m actually in possession of this edition so I’m sitting here looking at it very carefully.

In all seriousness:

There appear to be two cooking pots by Bertie’s feet. Bertie is poking the charcoal with a twig. The twig is not holding up the cloth, as I originally thought.

Lying on the ground between them is a tipped over lantern. Or possibly some old fashioned flashlight.

Biggles is holding what seems to be a tea saucer or plate in his left hand.

Bertie is wearing full length khaki trousers, while Ginger and Biggles have shorts on.

"For goodness sake stop that Yankee drawl, or you'll have us all doing it before you've finished.""OK baby - sorry - I mean, righto.""That's better."

Noooo! It's a Hurricane lantern lying on the ground, along with an overturned pot, Biggles' hand is resting on his knee, Bertie is prodding the charchol with a stick and Ginger is holding up a bit of cloth with burnt cloth thats supposed to be a tent.

"Spare my days! Who wants to be true to life? Why read about what you can see going on around you any day of the week?"